Locals perform a dragon dance during a molten iron firework show to celebrate Spring Festival in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Jan 24, 2023. [PHOTO by HU YUANJIA/FOR CHINA DAILY]The ongoing Spring Festival holiday has blown a trumpet for the nation's tourism recovery, which is witnessing a robust rebound,thanks to optimized COVID-19 control measures.Southwest China's Sichuan province said that as of Tuesday, the fourth day of the seven-day holiday,the number of visitors to its 15 attractions rated 5A — China's highest ranking — had hit a record high for attendance since 2020. As of Wednesday, the 15 attractions saw a year-on-year increase of about 48 percent in the number of travelers, while ticket revenue was 64 percent higher than during the same period last year.The number of visits reached its capacity at some of the province's attractions, including Mount Emei,famous for its breathtaking views,and the Sanxingdui Museum, whose exhibits showcase the nation's ancient civilization.A report from Hubei province in Central China was also encouraging.According to the province's bureau of culture and tourism, Hubei had received 17.62 million visits as of 3 pm on Tuesday, a year-on-year increase of 26 percent. Tourism-related revenue was about 9.92 billion yuan (.46 billion) during the four days — 33.83 percent more than in the same period last year.Visitors at a museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province, take photos on Jan 24, 2023 of a gold mask discovered among the Sanxingdui Ruins. [PHOTO by LI DONG/FOR CHINA DAILY]Figures from travel agencies confirmed the boom in the tourism market during the Spring Festival holiday. Trip.com Group, for example, said that hotels, homestays and ticket bookings for tourist attractions all outperformed those in 2019- the year before COVID-19 hit — in the first four days of the holiday. It also said that homestay bookings doubled in the first four days compared with the same period last year, and sales of tickets for attractions rose 50 percent year-on-year.At the holiday's halfway point,travelers began planning their return trips. Travel portal Qunar said that most of its users set their return trips for between Thursday and Jan 31, and the market will see a return-travel peak on Friday — the last day of the holiday.Guo Lechun, deputy director of Qunar's big data academy, said that the number of returning travelers will surge compared with that of the early period of the Spring Festival travel rush, which started on Jan 7 and will end on Feb 15."We estimate that the passenger volume of the year's Spring Festival travel rush will recover to 80 percent of that in 2019, which is a good start for this year's tourism industry," he said.Early on Monday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a notice reminding travelers to protect their safety and health during holiday trips. The ministry said people should not go to dangerous areas such as riverbanks and the edges of cliffs, as well as off-limits places where safety and security cannot be guaranteed.Travelers were also encouraged to consider their own health condition when participating in high-risk recreational activities, and to prepare masks and other anti-COVID supplies. 編輯：高佳?
Having spent the first day of the Spring Festival holiday at home, He Rui rushed to the ski resort early on the second day and was ready to start the Year of the Rabbit on his snowboard. This enthusiast has mastered the S-turn, and is working on his edging.Since He started skiing two years ago, the 11-year-old has gotten used to getting up early and heading for the Jiulong International Ski Resort in the suburbs of Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, sometimes even before dawn."People used to stay at home and relax during the Spring Festival holiday. But as our society places greater value on healthy lifestyle, more people are willing to spend their holiday skiing," said Chang Yulin, director of the ski resort. Chang said that the resort received more than 2,000 guests per day recently, including some coming from other provinces.The Spring Festival holiday, when Chinese people traditionally travel home for family reunions, runs from Jan. 21 to 27 this year.For Qiao Jian, a ski-lover from Taiyuan, skiing has become his new habit to celebrate the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. He has flown with his family to northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where the ice and snow atmosphere is more developed, for the third consecutive year."In addition to participating in winter sports, we can also visit nearby scenic spots to further appreciate local customs and culture," Qiao said.With high-hanging lanterns and paper-cutting pastings on windows, the Sun Mountain Yabuli resort welcomed visitors from all over the country. According to the resort, some clients even booked five months in advance."We have 17 ski trails of all kinds and different levels here at our resort. With a maximum slope of 40 degrees to a minimum one of six degrees, we can meet the needs of skiers of all levels," said Sun Nianwei, director of the marketing and sales department.At a recent ice and snow tourism forum, Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, pointed out that ice and snow tourism has revitalized traditional folklore and created a number of more modern, dynamic, and fashionable tourism destinations and consumption scenarios.Driven by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, ice and snow tourism has gradually gained popularity among Chinese people. A report on China's snow and ice tourism development predicts that the number of snow and ice leisure travelers in China is expected to exceed 300 million in the 2022-2023 snow and ice season. The number is expected to reach 520 million in three years, and the related tourism revenue will reach 720 billion yuan (about 106.1 billion U.S. dollars).With 300 million people participating in winter sports, in order to further stimulate people's enthusiasm, the central government has mentioned promoting the ice and snow industry and building ski tourism resorts in several planning documents. Northeast, north, and northwest regions with abundant ice and snow resources have introduced corresponding policies.North China's Hebei Province, one of the host places of the Beijing Winter Olympics, has proposed strengthening the use of Winter Olympics venues, accelerating the improvement of infrastructure and supporting services, and cultivating new consumption growth points in competition performances, venue services, sports training, and sports tourism, among others.As one of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games venues, Genting Snow Park opened the U-shaped field, Moguls, and five other tracks to the public, to meet the desire of snow enthusiasts, while other local ski resorts have launched multiple activities to attract tourists."We hold different theme activities here every day, such as Spring Festival gala, dragon and lion dance, and band performance, so that visitors can both enjoy skiing and have a special Spring Festival holiday," said Ren Xiaoqiang, marketing center manager of a local company.Dai Bin believed that the popularization of winter sports in the country opened a new era for China and even for the world. He suggested cultivating a number of enterprises in the field of ice and snow equipment production, cultural creativity and specialized tourism. 編輯：高佳?
